One of the really pleasing aspects of this year was the involvement of so many MBA colleagues in the work of the MBA Charity Club. We started our first meeting with ten volunteers and I am delighted to say that the same people are as committed now as they were at the start. And even better, we have added more volunteers to the ranks.
For the club this year our aim has been to try and identify some opportunities where we could bring some of our combined experience coupled with our MBA training to help some charities. While fundraising is really important we felt it would be more valuable to combine some charitable fundraising with raising awareness of a number of issues.
In the MBA class this year are some very talented, dedicated and creative people, none more so than Gerry Quinn and Rob Power (who enlisted the help of Art Director Adrian O’Sullivan) who have started working with Arc Cancer Support. They started off with a brainstorming session on the Saturday morning before our final exams. The aim of this session was to work with volunteers and staff of the charity to formulate an online strategy and help with some branding. The guys have continued this work with Arc Cancer Support and are currently helping put together a new website (launching in August with the help of Kooba Web Design and some PR experts). I have to say though that there were more volunteers from the MBA class than the Arc Cancer Support Project could cater for, including some lecturers!
Arc Cancer Support operates two drop-in centres for cancer sufferers and their families in Dublin. Their centres are staffed by wonderful people who greet guests with a big heart and a smile. If you have the need you should check out their services.
This year has been an eventful one for the MBA Charity Club under the stewardship of Garrett Dorrian. Garrett has brought some great enthusiasm and leadership to our activities over the past nine months. He has kept everyone motivated, involved and has been a pleasure to work with.
– Stephen Smith, Full Time MBA 2011/2012